Dunkley Candidate, Andrew Gatley, explains why Independents have not been listed on news stories or lists of registered candidates which appeared prior to the announcement of the date of the upcoming 2025 election.
Under the current regulations set by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), candidates have two options to app
ear on the ballot paper: they can either be endorsed by a registered political party or register as an Independent. The AEC does not permit candidates to register for the ballot until after the election is called. Once that occurs, candidates have ten days to collect the required nomination signatures, which must validate that they have the support of 100 individuals within their electorate.
For candidates endorsed by a registered political party, the process is considerably simpler. While they are not officially recognized as "candidates" until after the election is called, the registered party can submit a nomination application and simply indicate that the individual is an “endorsed candidate.” It is also instructive to note the advance funding and amount spent by both the Liberal & Labor Governments on each candidate.
Gatley initially intended to run as an Independent. However, after careful consideration, he found this route to be more challenging than anticipated. There was little time to gather tens of extra nominators to ensure that at least 100 would be available when the AEC phoned to check. Consequently, on Friday, March 28, 2025, he formally accepted a pre-selection offer from the Alliance of Democracy First, Fusion, and Australian Progressives to run as their representative.
This endorsement guarantees Gatley a spot on the ballot and allows him to maintain the policies he has already published without the need for alteration. Additionally, by representing all the Alliance parties as a single candidate, he reduces the number of candidates in Dunkley, thereby minimizing the risk of diluting votes among smaller parties.
Now that the candidate endorsement has been finalized, Gatley has begun reaching out to media outlets to inform them of his candidacy, hoping to gain visibility in the coming days.
We asked Andrew, "Are you formally an independent now that you are in the Fusion Alliance, or something else?"
His reply was, "Formally, I will be listed on the ballot under the “Fusion Party” – however in all advertising I will be listed as “Andrew Gatley – An Alliance member of Democracy First & Fusion. The hardest component of this is going to be to explain that whilst the “Fusion Party” is a registered political party, they themselves are actually an amalgamation of parties that come together due to the challenges faced by Independents in running." Andrew said, "It is my policies that are listed on my website, and those are the policies that I will be running with."
Comments
Andrew Gatley (not verified)
Mon, 2025-03-31 07:46
Permalink
The Majors Trying Every Trick In The Book
As the 2025 election date nears, both the major parties are doing everything in their power to have a smaller field of candidates. From deliberate removal of signage and destruction of signage, through to the old trying to dig up dirt.
Sadly, the challenges of the running as a candidate and the toll it takes on family life, has led to a number of Democracy First Alliance Candidates withdrawing from the 2025 Federal Election. This coupled with the amount of money being thrown at “independent” candidates from Climate 200 and the emergence of Trumpets of Patriots make the importance of remaining a candidate even more important.
Despite the challenges thrown towards me, I am pleased to confirm that I am on the ballot paper and will be taking my policies to the federal election with the aim of representing EVERY Dunkley voter regardless of the way they vote.
James Sinnamon
Mon, 2025-03-31 16:45
Permalink
Andrew Gatley challenges Dunkley candidates to a debate
The following was posted to Andrew Gatley's Facebook page:
As a candidate in the upcoming Federal Election, I believe that all voters should be able to have their questions answered in an open and transparent debate.
So far we have had a moderated debate that was only accessible by a paid ticket - and one in which NOT all candidates were invited to attend. Therefore, I challenge all Candidates in the Dunkley election to attend an open forum to held in Frankston at a time to be confirmed based on the candidates that are prepared to attend, availability. This debate will be open to 100 - 200 members of the public, with each candidate being able to invite 10 guests to ask questions, and the remaining being sleeted by a random raffle system. There will be no pre-vetting of the questions, and each question can be answered by each candidate in a 90 second response window.
Let's see how many candidates take up the challenge! If you are up for the challenge reach out to [email protected] to express your interest so we can organise a suitable time!
Add comment